Principal Substation Engineer - Power Plant

Principal Substation Engineer
- Power Plant

The Principal Substation Engineer – Power Plant is responsible for the engineering, design, integration, and technical oversight of high and medium voltage substations directly supporting natural gas fired power plants, including combined cycle (CC), simple cycle, and peaking facilities. This role requires hands on experience coordinating generator step up transformers (GSUs), plant auxiliaries, protection and control systems, and transmission interconnections to ensure safe, reliable, and code compliant operation of dispatchable generation assets.

Key Responsibilities

• Substation & Electrical Design Engineer and review plant switchyards and substations (typically 13.8 kV, 18 kV, 22 kV, 34.5 kV, 115–500 kV) supporting natural gas generating units.
• Design and review GSU configurations, including bus arrangements, grounding, protection zones, and insulation coordination.
• Develop single line diagrams, three line diagrams, schematics, wiring diagrams, and equipment layouts specific to thermal power plants.
• Specify and apply:
  Power transformers (GSU, UAT, SAT) Circuit breakers, disconnects, CTs, VTs, surge arresters Station service and auxiliary power systems
• Write, conform and adapt Engineer of Record (EOR), Engineering Consultant, Early Stage Engineering, Construction, Engineer/Procure/Construct (EPC) and Owner furnished equipment specifications and other technical contract documents as needed for each project to put contracts in place (self-performed in areas of expertise, seeks appropriate in-house guidance in areas outside of immediate expertise, and where needed uses 3rd party engineering consultants).
• Review Engineer of Record (EOR), Engineering Consultant, Early-Stage Engineering, Contractor, Engineer/Procure/Construct (EPC) and Owner furnished equipment deliverables for contract compliance, adequacy, and completeness (self-performed in areas of expertise, seeks appropriate in-house guidance in areas outside of immediate expertise, and where needed uses third party engineering consultants when necessary)
• Work with company purchasing department to ensure that purchase orders adequately define the specified requirements and contracts are put in place.
• Power Plant Integration Coordinate substation interfaces with:
  Gas turbine generators (CTG) Steam turbine generators (STG) HRSG auxiliaries and balance of plant (BOP) systems Support generator grounding, neutral grounding resistors/transformers, and plant grounding studies. Interface substation protection schemes with plant DCS, SCADA, and plant control systems. Support black start, fast start, and grid support operating modes where applicable. Coordinate/support islanded/behind the meter power supply to data centers in combination with BESS
• Protection, Control & Studies Review or develop protection and control philosophies applicable to plant substations:
  Generator, GSU, and bus protection Breaker failure and transfer trip schemes Review or support electrical studies including:
  Short circuit, load flow, arc flash Insulation coordination and surge arrester selection Grounding and step and touch analysis Interconnection & Compliance Support ISO/RTO and utility interconnection requirements (e.g., NERC, regional transmission owner standards). Coordinate with transmission owners, EPCs, OEMs, and commissioning teams. Ensure compliance with: EEE, NESC, NEC, NFPA 850, NERC PRC standards Owner and transmission owner design criteria Construction & Commissioning Support Provide engineering support during construction, testing, and commissioning.
  
  Review submittals, RFIs, design changes, and as built documentation. Support energization, synchronization, and outage planning activities.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of substation engineering experience, with direct experience on natural gas power plants.
• Demonstrated experience with GSU based substations for thermal generation.
• Strong familiarity with plant electrical systems and operating constraints.
• Working knowledge of applicable electrical codes and standards.
• Ability to interface with EPCs, OEMs, utilities, and internal plant stakeholders.
• Professional Engineer (PE)…